Kamal Malaker

“

In a blend of ontological discovery and philosophical searching, Kamal Malaker's The Day I Ceased to Be takes the reader through an episodic journey of near-death experiences and new-life discoveries as he reviews his academic and professional odyssey. Beginning with Malaker's early professional career as a medical researcher, this collection of personal vignettes draws from lived experience and personal reflection on the nature of life, of human purpose and epistemological meaning.
While much of this work is grounded in medical research and the evolution of the professional role, Malaker's voice is both accessible and questioning, drawing the reader in to his experience as his own personal story unfolds. The accounts within this collection also introduce the reader to the medical professional as colonial figure, navigating the complex cultural and social values between Western and African life as an Indian who is "England Returned," transitioning in his own identity from practitioner to researcher while still trying to remain simply human.
In many of the accounts, Malaker depicts several close encounters with death, both his own and those of his colleagues and patients. While these events may give cause to "cease to be," the title extends beyond the corporeal realm to the philosophical. As roles change, as geography and culture shift, so too dies the narrator's lens of understanding. In a particularly poignant recollection on the tragic death of a young Irish graduate student, Malaker explores the delicate uncertainty of how we may (or may not) find meaning bound to roles rather than to experience.
Following Malaker through the rigour and tedium of graduate studies, doctoral research and post- doctoral practice and the requisite publishing might seem burdensome but as he reconciles the effects of his trials, the narrative threads together how several journeys create one life. Discipline, in every sense of the word's many meanings, carries Malaker from the clinical to the practical and, I believe, towards the spiritual as he recognizes that existence and emptiness often occupy the same vessels.
While the subject matter draws from the world of scientific, clinical and medical practice, Malaker's collection will appeal to any reader who has committed to a journey with self-reflection, trials and discovery. His personal vantage point draws the audience into the process of drawing from stress and rebuilding a faith in self, in science and, as he eloquently and simply states in the final pages, in measuring the present, planning the future and visualizing the end.

David Yerex Williamson (Poet, communications instructor, Manitoba Writers Guild director)

“

In a blend of ontological discovery and philosophical searching, Kamal Malaker's The Day I Ceased to Be takes the reader through an episodic journey of near-death experiences and new-life discoveries as he reviews his academic and professional odyssey. Beginning with Malaker's early professional career as a medical researcher, this collection of personal vignettes draws from lived experience and personal reflection on the nature of life, of human purpose and epistemological meaning.
While much of this work is grounded in medical research and the evolution of the professional role, Malaker's voice is both accessible and questioning, drawing the reader in to his experience as his own personal story unfolds. The accounts within this collection also introduce the reader to the medical professional as colonial figure, navigating the complex cultural and social values between Western and African life as an Indian who is "England Returned," transitioning in his own identity from practitioner to researcher while still trying to remain simply human.
In many of the accounts, Malaker depicts several close encounters with death, both his own and those of his colleagues and patients. While these events may give cause to "cease to be," the title extends beyond the corporeal realm to the philosophical. As roles change, as geography and culture shift, so too dies the narrator's lens of understanding. In a particularly poignant recollection on the tragic death of a young Irish graduate student, Malaker explores the delicate uncertainty of how we may (or may not) find meaning bound to roles rather than to experience.
Following Malaker through the rigour and tedium of graduate studies, doctoral research and post- doctoral practice and the requisite publishing might seem burdensome but as he reconciles the effects of his trials, the narrative threads together how several journeys create one life. Discipline, in every sense of the word's many meanings, carries Malaker from the clinical to the practical and, I believe, towards the spiritual as he recognizes that existence and emptiness often occupy the same vessels.
While the subject matter draws from the world of scientific, clinical and medical practice, Malaker's collection will appeal to any reader who has committed to a journey with self-reflection, trials and discovery. His personal vantage point draws the audience into the process of drawing from stress and rebuilding a faith in self, in science and, as he eloquently and simply states in the final pages, in measuring the present, planning the future and visualizing the end

David Yerex Williamson (Poet, communications instructor, Manitoba Writers Guild director)

“

How does one convey the horrors of organ transplant abuse? Presenting the facts, advocating for enforcement of the law or stronger laws is not the only way. Every person, every medium has a contribution to make.
Dr. Kamal Malaker uses the medium of fiction to convey facts. Yet, in its own way, the medium of fiction, this particular exercise in fiction is as effective and then some in conveying the reality of organ transplant abuse as any straightforward, independently verifiable piece of research would do.
Killing innocents for their organs is not just a statistic. For every such killing there is a victim, there are perpetrators and there are bystanders. Who are these people? A work of imagination can answer that sort of question far better than a work of fact can. We see through the lens of the author the evildoers, the willfully blind, and the innocent as everyday people, people we would recognize.
Fiction can tell us not just what people do. It can tell us also how people think and feel. The evidence about organ transplant abuse in China, the mass industrialized state organized killing of prisoners of conscience for their organs, an abuse with which I am particularly familiar, is overwhelming, established by one researcher after another beyond any reasonable doubt. Yet, the evidence is met with disbelief, not so much because the evidence is questioned as because those not immersed in the subject find it hard to believe that people could do such a thing to other people.
This book, by stepping inside the hearts and minds of the perpetrators and their accomplices, the bystanders and witnesses, helps to dispel that disbelief. When the perpetrators and their accomplices assume a human, everyday dimension, we can appreciate a lot better how these violations come to be.

David Matas

“

How does one convey the horrors of organ transplant abuse? Presenting the facts, advocating for enforcement of the law or stronger laws is not the only way. Every person, every medium has a contribution to make.
Dr. Kamal Malaker uses the medium of fiction to convey facts. Yet, in its own way, the medium of fiction, this particular exercise in fiction is as effective and then some in conveying the reality of organ transplant abuse as any straightforward, independently verifiable piece of research would do.
Killing innocents for their organs is not just a statistic. For every such killing there is a victim, there are perpetrators and there are bystanders. Who are these people? A work of imagination can answer that sort of question far better than a work of fact can. We see through the lens of the author the evildoers, the willfully blind, and the innocent as everyday people, people we would recognize.
Fiction can tell us not just what people do. It can tell us also how people think and feel. The evidence about organ transplant abuse in China, the mass industrialized state organized killing of prisoners of conscience for their organs, an abuse with which I am particularly familiar, is overwhelming, established by one researcher after another beyond any reasonable doubt. Yet, the evidence is met with disbelief, not so much because the evidence is questioned as because those not immersed in the subject find it hard to believe that people could do such a thing to other people.
This book, by stepping inside the hearts and minds of the perpetrators and their accomplices, the bystanders and witnesses, helps to dispel that disbelief. When the perpetrators and their accomplices assume a human, everyday dimension, we can appreciate a lot better how these violations come to be.

David Matas

“

It is 7am in the Cardiac Ward is both a gripping narrative and an instructive guide to understanding the importance of empathy for medical professionals and patients alike. Recounting his own prolonged illness and time spent in the hospital, author Dr. Kamal Malaker shifts his perspective from an experienced and highly regarded oncologist to that of a patient, thereby shedding light (through his detailed and evocative first-person narrative) on the schisms of difference between how doctors view the pain and illness of patients and how patients view their own condition. Presenting the patient- doctor relationship through the lens of his own experience of having been both, Dr. Malaker teaches the need for empathy- not just simply understanding- in the medical field, sharing biographical events and encounters that shaped his own thinking. It is 7am in the Cardiac Ward is a highly personal and colorful drama that explores not only the details of a specific field, but even more so unpacks essential truths of the human experience through carefully wrought prose and an attention to the underlying emotional and psychological lives of its characters. I highly recommend this book for both medical professionals and general readers.

Charles Asher

“

The Day I Ceased to Being: Enigmatic Life of a Research Scholar by Kamal Malaker is a narrative autobiographical manuscript that covers Kamal’s education, career, and challenges in the medical profession as an internationally acclaimed and respected
oncologist. While working in an African equatorial jungle, Malaker experienced life in a third world-country and found himself in a desperate situation after a vehicle accident, followed by a fall from a make-shift ladder. A near-drowning incident and encountering a python were no match for Malaker’s determination to remain positive. An educational trip to England added credibility to Malaker’s reputation and began a whole new adventure for him.

What an interesting memoir! Kamal Malaker has written an intriguing story of his life experiences, and I enjoyed every minute of reading it. When Kamal received his Ph.D. degree from the University of London and the Imperial College, his emotional
response was unexpected and brutally honest – a real eye-opener. I would recommend The Day I Ceased to Being to every young person who is considering a medical career, not only to learn from Kamal’s story but also because the book is beautifully written, and I admire Kamal’s use of the English language. The story flows well, makes for a relaxed, comfortable read, and is filled with many life lessons. “Our dreams, our resolve, our hard work, sleepless nights, failures after failures, and getting off track of our resolve are all part of destiny as is to be.”

Natalie SoineReaders' Favorite